Which philosopher has been your greatest influence?

[Democratic Hawk]

Having thought long and hard about it, I've came up with Jean-Jacque Rousseau. I kind of like the notion of a 'Social Contract' - though I wouldn't say I subscribe to either  the 'radical democracy' or the 'blueprint for totalitarianism' interpretations

Dave

[A18]

Don't know any

[© tweed]

It is probably Rousseau, as he provided justification for both dictators and democratic activists through his theory of the general will.

[Richard]

Ayn Rand, Thomas Hobbes, Locke

[Inverted Things]

Daniel Quinn.

[opebo]

Sigmund Freud.

[Joe Republic]

Don't know any

[Bono]

Arthur Schopenhauer(general stuff), Hans Hermann Hoppe, Pierre Proudhon, Lysander Spooner(all 3 politics).

[Sam Spade]

Vince Lombardi 

[J. J.]

Niccolo Machiavelli, Frank Herbert, and J. Michael Straczynski. 

[Gabu]

No one, really; I form my opinions based on what seems correct to me given what I know and can reasonably infer.  I can't think of any one single philosopher whose ideas I have taken as one large whole and have held up as sacrosanct.

[Bono]

No one, really; I form my opinions based on what seems correct to me given what I know and can reasonably infer.  I can't think of any one single philosopher whose ideas I have taken as one large whole and have held up as sacrosanct.

´

That's not the issue. One can be influenced by Ayn Rand, for instance, but still aknowledge she was a mean c**ntrag who made up individualist excuses for denying people their individuality and nuking those people(namely people who wear cloth in their heads and very much dislike Israel). Being influenced by someone is recognizing value in their ideas and using them to reformulate our tought, not follow everything philisophers say.

[DanielX]

I'm somewhat ashamed of this (I know KEmperor will be proud), but Ayn Rand. I probably did not think over much philosophical issues before picking up her books. Of course, her books are basically vehicles for her hitting you over the head with her philosophy, especially the speechicals like Atlas Shrugged . A speechical is, incidentally, like a musical in that random people start breaking out into speeches in the middle of the act.

That said, I would like to know more about John Stuart Mill, Aristotle, and Aquinas.

[MaC]

St. Thomas Aquinas-heavily influences my belief in God; from a philisophical standpoint and not a religious standpoint. 
Locke influences my politics in a basic way, but I don't know much about him. 
If you want to call him one like opebo does, Sigmund Freud.  Freud is too highly ridiculed by the modern media as a 'sexist pig', but he did contribute a lot to psychology and he is right about a great many things.
Socrates-because his method of questioning everything makes the world more understandable in a specific sense.
And finally, Rene' Descarte, for making me look at the world in a really weird way. Ex-I cannot prove this computer I'm typing on exists, yet I can because my thoughts confirm my existence.

[J-Mann]

Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are at the top of my list.  Augustine of Hippo and St. Thomas Aquinas were amazing philosophers, too.

[The Dowager Mod]

Johnny Cash

[Speed of Sound]

Honestly- Debs & Marx, although Debs wasnt much of a philosopher, he influenced me alot.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Sun Tzu

[Everett]

My math teacher.

[© tweed]

It is probably Rousseau, as he provided justification for both dictators and democratic activists through his theory of the general will.

Wait, I misread the question.  I thought it meant the greatest influence in general, and not on me.  No philosopher has had an impact on me; I just feel Rousseau has had the greatest impact on the world in general.

[AuH2O]

In rough order:

1. George Santayana

2. Oswald Spengler

3. John Locke

A lot of the time I don't like him, but Nietzsche has influenced my thinking in some ways. The classical philosophers have had some influence I suppose.

[ilikeverin]

Philosophy is even more impractical than (advanced) mathematics.

[J-Mann]

Philosophy is even more impractical than (advanced) mathematics.

It is in every way as important as mathematics -- the early mathematicians were philosophers of sorts.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Aristotle, without doubt.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Marx